Last Day in the Real Desert, Last Day of the Month, Night Flying

It was 6:45 when I woke up on Thursday, Jan. 31^st.  I had been dreaming for a long time and was happy to wake from those. Not bad dreams, just unpleasant ones. I was surprised to see that Bill was already up and I hadn’t heard a peep. When I went downstairs with him, he had been up since before 5. Oh my! Someone will be having a snooze today for sure!

Good morning!
Obviously, our little 15 year old camera needs cleaning

 Sitting there with Bill and seeing the sky light up for this last day, I felt a bit lazy. I didn’t get out for my walk, instead I sat trying to use up our data. This month we were sitting pretty with 10 gb remaining on the last day of the month. Unheard of. We’ve done so well but now I want to use it since with our plan, it doesn’t roll over. Since today was our last day, Bill, Rob, Pat and I drove into Quartzsite for one last kick at the cat.

Speaking of pretty, the sky was beautiful this morning
The moon disappeared in the pink

Yahooie Louie! I was thrilled when Bill said ‘your tent is open, dear’. Rada Cutlery is certainly entitled to a day off after the rush over the last few days and that is exactly what the owner indicated as he uncovered tables. His kids work for him and they all needed a break. I found the plastic handled 2 cup measuring cup and the 3 little serving dishes I wanted. Then I found another 4 pack of scrubbies that we use for dishes as well as some bag clips to subsidize the few we already have.

The clouds were pretty moving across the sky as we drove into Quartzsite

I only bought one other thing and that was a homemade hand towel to hang on our freezer door handle. I was very happy about the $2, I couldn’t make them for that considering my time and frustration. I was happy that someone else did it for me. Now I have 3 nice ones in dark colours so I don’t have to worry about stains either. We went to Discount Solar and Satellite Advantage, not in this order.

These hand towels are really nice for $2

After Bill and Rob had found what they wanted in town, Pat and I walked to Quiet Times where I picked up some post cards and she found an ornament that she liked. We all spent a little bit and came home……….happy campers. LOL It was 11 and time for a coffee and for us, brunch. I made us my favourite omelette on toasted rye bread. Yum. Bill vacuumed out our sliding drawer in the garage while it was cooking inside.

Ken was playing on the roof next door
Debating the installation of his tilt kit for the panels

After dishes, he set about packing things away outside and I began the ritual inside. As I put things away, I dusted away some of the desert dust. I boiled water for another dish of Creamy Jell-o, this time Lime, and set it in the fridge to set. Kim and Ken came over for a tour of the Suite, which everyone is happy to do. Show off their home. Kim has offered up a few handy ideas that she is learned in their rv’ing travels and I’m always open to different ways to do things. The big thing was to find a place for the ‘down the road, possible, maybe, a good chance Insta Pot’. 😊

It was a peaceful walk with no traffic at this time of day
one truck met me and a 4 x 4 passed me
It was a hot afternoon at 75F

This is more what you think of in the desert
The washes get so dry, they flake

I could actually pick the dusty pieces up in my hand

I finished what I was doing and Bill had the most things put away too. Lowering the solar panels, Weber put to bed, portable panel tucked away and the weather/wind vane down off the roof. Since I missed my morning walk, at 2:30 I slipped out for one leaving Bill in his chair having a snooze with Clemson.  When I returned the back way, Suzie was sitting outside at their coach so I asked if Happy Hour was at their place.

It was a windy day - gusts to 20 mph at times
Last picture of these mountains this year 

It was their turn, in a way, since we’d not been there yet. I poured myself a drink and Bill got up to do the same before taking our chairs over. The sun was beautiful and even with the wind, my shorts and t-shirt was all I needed. By 4, the sun would disappear behind a cloud and I’d notice a change in temperature but it wasn’t until 5 that I walked back and changed into long pants and grabbed my hoody. I made a toast for the ‘last happy hour here together for this season’.

Last Happy Hour of the season at La Posa South
We've had fun with these guys

Bill and I had planned to go to the Thursday night light flyers at the Quartzsite RC Flying club. We discussed supper and the time to leave as well as the wind speed. Pat and Rob expressed an interest in going as well so we decided on Carl’s Jr. for supper. That’s easy! We were in the truck around 6 and Bill drove to the field on the north end of town.

Pretty wispy skies during happy hour

It was a slow start but eventually more flyers showed up. The only picture I successfully got was one of a Nightvision that came from the factory with internal lights built in. It was neat! 

And on the way out of La Posa South, the sky was putting on a show

This is a great venue for the flyers
Sponsored by the town with paved runways and their
$10 membership fee gives them enough to place fencing, tables
and a shelter for events

This little plane was lit up from the inside

The pictures didn't work out when the planes
were any distance away
The led strip lights were so bright, they just blurred

There was one plane that went up and immediately after it got high in the air, the lights went out. Needless to say, the pilot lost sight of it (as did us spectators) and it went down in the brushes. A ‘posse’ of 6 or 7 people went out with flashlights to search for it. It was found it but it was damaged beyond repair.

Perfect night - the wind died right off

Cute! Have plane will travel

There were a couple of other mishaps in the calm night air, the wind had died right down by this time, so it just wasn’t the night to be flying for some. There were a few that got up and had really nice lights. We enjoyed watching them until about 7:15 and we loaded up to head to Carl’s Jr. 

Single Western Cheeseburger combo

I hadn’t eaten there yet this winter and I don’t think Pat ever had. We ordered Western Burgers, singles and doubles, with fries and I enjoyed every bite. With full tummies, we drove home. Bill started the genny to give our batteries a boost before bedtime. We are always concerned about our residential fridge on a cloudy day.

A nice shot from the flying field

This was a fun day and another bittersweet one. We are looking forward to our park stay starting tomorrow but as always, sad to leave the desert and our friends. We’ll see most of them again before we head for home (yikes! I can’t believe that is on the tips of our tongues!) so that makes the goodbye easier to say. I hope you have had a good day as well.

Thank you for your visit to my blog today. I love hearing from you!